Confident Victorian Plumbing aims to unseat Bathstore

Victorian Plumbing said its goal is to become the UK’s top bathroom retailer in terms of profit, turnover and service, as it revealed record sales and profit for its latest financial period.

Earlier in the week, kbbreview reported that the online bathroom retailer had made sales of £118 million to end of September 2018, up 12% on its previous year and pre-tax profit of £3.5m.

The positive financial results come despite the £1.75m settlement fee Victorian Plumbing paid to its online competitor Victoria Plum after losing a court case over competitive bidding on Google Adwords.

In contrast, TPG-backed Victoria Plum reported pre-tax profit of £200,000 for its most recent 12-month financial period to end of February 2018.

Victorian Plumbing said its results outperformed its closest competitor, the 166-store bathroom chain Bathstore, and it was “on track” to overtake the retailer to become the largest and most profitable bathroom business in the UK.

Bathstore reported a pre-tax loss in the year to end of July 2017 of almost £30m, with five of the firm’s directors, including chief executive Gary Favell, resigning during that period.

“My goal is to be number one for profitability, service and turnover,” said Mark Radcliffe, Victorian Plumbing owner and managing director (pictured above).

“Being top in all three areas has always been a target and priority for me.

“We have held these impressive positions for several years now and the current figures show that we’re on target to become the largest and most profitable bathroom retailer in the UK, overtaking Bathstore.

“We have bold and exciting marketing ventures planned for 2019 that are already under way. We set the bar when it comes to our marketing budget and no other company in our sector invests so heavily in this area.

“Reinvesting into the business has been the key to our success and this is thanks to the efforts of the Victorian Plumbing team and suppliers.”

He said that Victorian Plumbing is on course to break new records in 2019 with turnover predicted of £145m for the year ending this September. That would represent growth of almost 23%.

The firm said TV remained the most important medium for brand awareness, with Victorian Plumbing’s adverts generating more than 400m brand impressions through TV advertising.

But it also expanded marketing activity through various high-profile partnerships.

These included exclusive collaborations with fashion designer Julien Macdonald, a creative campaign with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and a partnership with Fox Studios for the release of the film Deadpool 2.

The company also said running promotional campaigns on social media for partners such as Grohe and Mira boosted engagement with its target market.

Victorian Plumbing said it successfully counterclaimed against Victoria Plum for trademark infringement and had permission to take the case to appeal, but chose to settle.

It said the case had no adverse effects on the business.

Home > Topstory > Confident Victorian Plumbing aims to unseat Bathstore